The Kanwar Yatra of 2022 is very special for the Bhagwan Shiva devotees as it is happening with full enthusiasm after a gap of two years owning to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lakhs of Kanwariyas all over India have been undertaking the arduous journey to collect water from holy rivers and offer it to Lord Mahadev. However, there have been multiple instances this year where the Yatra has faced hateful attacks.
#WATCH | Uttarakhand: Large number of Kanwariyas gathered at Haridwar as part of the ongoing Kanwar Yatra. pic.twitter.com/5GzPV6U6G0
On July 17, Congress’s national coordinator Ritu Choudhary sparked controversy by suggesting people pick up books so that they would not have to pick Kanwar. In a now-deleted tweet, she wrote, “Pick up a book, you don’t have to pick a Kanwar then.” Notably, during Kanwar Yatra, the pilgrims travel to Haridwar and other sacred places to get water from River Ganga and then go to one of the 12 Jyotirlingams to offer water that they collected to Bhagwan Shiva.
Following her tweet, people criticized her comments and questioned why she and her party hate Hindus and traditions linked to Sanatan Dharma. One user even asked her to say, “pick up a book, you won’t have to go Hajj” if she had the guts. As the controversy heated up, she quietly deleted the tweet without issuing any apology for the same.
Meat was thrown on Kanwar Yatra
On July 19, someone threw a piece of meat on Kanwar Yatra in Seelampur, Delhi. The incident occurred in the evening, following which the pilgrims doing Kanwar Yatra jammed the roads for an hour. While these Kanwars, who had walked for over seven days to reach Delhi, were welcomed with flowers at other locations, in Delhi, they had to face people throwing meat at them.
Speaking to OpIndia, the pilgrims said that they came to know about the piece of meat when one pilgrim was shifting Kanwar on another pilgrim’s shoulders. They did not know when it happened, but the incident shook them to the core.
8 Muslim men were arrested for offering Namaz on a road full of Kanwariyas
On July 22, Police were informed about a group of Muslim men offering Namaz at Shivalikpur Nagar, Ranipur, and Haridwar in Uttarakhand. When they were offering prayers, a large group of Kanwariyas was passing through the road.
All eight who were arrested by the Police were shopkeepers. One of the reports suggested that they were taking items on their back and suddenly grouped together and started offering Namaz on the road. They were booked for disrupting law and order.
Islamists spat on Kanwariyas in Meerut
Another incident happened in Meerut on July 22, where Islamists spat on Kanwariyas. Following the incident, Kanwariyas jammed the road and demanded action by the Police. Reports suggest that the pilgrims were sitting on the side of the road to rest for a while. Two people came on a bike and tried to spit on them. After that, one of them got off the bike and spat on the Kanwariyas.
The pilgrims grabbed one of them, but the other one escaped. The Police came to know about the incident. They came and took away the accused. The Police had to calm down the Kanwariyas as they got agitated when Police refused to hand over the accused to them.
Muslim women stopped Kanwariyas in Ibrahimpur
The most recent incident happened in Ibrahimpur, Muradabad. As per reports, a group of Muslim women stopped Kanwariyas from entering Ibrahimpur. They put up cot beds on the road and demanded that the pilgrims should return and follow the prescribed route. However, the Kanwariyas who were stopped by the women were from Ibrahimpur itself.
The Police came and tried to convince both parties, but no one listened. The women claimed that the Kanwariyas were starting a new trend of entering “Muslim-dominating areas”, and they would not allow them to pass. On the other hand, Kanwariyas said they were from the same village.
Senior Police officers and elders from the village held a Panchayat and allowed Kanwariyas to pass through the village. However, the Muslim community claimed if the route was not decided soon, they would hold protests.
Inputs of the terror attack on Kanwariyas
Before Kanwar Yatra started, the Union Home Ministry had alerted the state governments to be vigilant as there were inputs of the terror attack on the pilgrims.
On July 25, Trinamool Congress National Spokesperson Saket Gokhale published a misleading tweet thread claiming that the Central Government does not consult the President on matters related to the armed forces. In his tweet, he shared an RTI and its reply sent by the President of India’s office and claimed that “the President is not consulted by the Central Government on matters related to the armed forces”. He further claimed it was an insult to the President of India.
TMC Spokesperson Saket Gokhale shared RTI reply on Agnipath Scheme and tried to mislead the public by twisting the words of the clause used for rejecting his RTI. Source: Twitter
The misleading claims by Saket Gokhale
On June 21, Gokhale sent an RTI to the Undersecretary (RTI) in the President of India’s office and sought information on Agnipath Scheme. He asked the office if the President was consulted by the Union Government of India or the Council of Ministers over the recently-launched Agnipath Scheme for the recruitment in the Armed Forces of India. He further asked for copies of all files received and sent by the President of India and the President’s Secretariat to the Union Govt of India on the matter.
RTI submitted by TMC’s Saket Gokhale. Source: Saket Gokhale/Twitter
While sharing the reply, Gokhale claimed that the Modi government denied information that its disclosure would affect the sovereignty and integrity of India. According to Gokhale, the reasoning was bizarre. He further continued to claim that the Modi government does not consult the President of India on matters related to the Armed Forces and hides the information.
Saket Gokhale claimed Central Government does not consult the President on Armed Forces matters. Source: Twitter
The reply nowhere mentions what Gokhale claimed
By looking at the reply he received, it looks like the President’s office had forwarded his RTI application to the Department of Military Affairs that rejected it. The application was rejected under Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act, which states, “Information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence.”
Reply sent by the Department of Military Affairs rejecting the RTI. Source: Saket Gokhale/Twitter
What Saket Gokhale was seeking as a reply to his RTI were confidential documents regarding the recruitment in the Armed Forces. It was obvious that such information would not be provided by the defence department as it may go into the wrong hands. Interestingly, nowhere in the reply did the Department of Military Affairs say that the President of India was not consulted about the new recruitment scheme, but Gokhale somehow came to the conclusion that if the information was not provided, and just assumed that the president was not consulted.
Amidst the raging controversy over the SSC (School Service Commission) scam, Bengali actor Rudranil Ghosh took potshots at the ruling Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal over its ‘close ties’ with accused Arpita Mukherjee.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recently recovered over ₹21.20 crores in cash, gold and foreign currencies worth 50 lakhs each and 22 mobile phones from the residence of the actress.
Rudranil Ghosh, who is known for his eloquence and satire, wrote a hard-hitting poem on the plight of the State under the administration of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Excerpt from the poem of Rudranil Ghosh:
21 July moncho thake bechlo didi muri, 22 e July Arpita der flat e kuti 20 (Mamata Banerjee politicised the Bengali staple food of ‘muri/puffed rice’ on July 21, only to be overshadowed on July 22 by the recovery of ₹20 crores from Arpita’s flat).
“Muri bechar taka naki chakri churir taka, boli o Didibhai jobab toh din malik toh apni sudhu eka (Turns out the money kept aside for buying puffed rice is in fact the money collected through recruitment scam. Respond to questions, Mamata di! You are the master of the roster).“
Kudi koti noter pahad dekhlo Banga bashi, Arpita der unnayan e amar didi khushi (The residents of Bengal were taken aback by the huge stack of money. Nonetheless, our Didi is pleased with the progress of Arpita Mukherjee).
Trinamool er Durga Pujoi Arpita ra mukh, neta r kacher manush hole pabe opar sukh (Arpita was the face of the Durga Puja event of TMC. It’s clear that if you are close to the politicians, then, your happiness will have no bounds).
Sukher ghore osukh holo, dhuklo ghore ED, jerar mukh e montri janai, paap er ABCD (The abode of happiness was darkened by the pall of gloom when the ED barged in. The Minister (Partha Chatterjee) revealed the A,B,C,D of the scam in the face of interrogation.)
Arpita Mukherjee was the face of the Naktala Udayan Sangha in 2020, image via India Today
Kudi kotir golpo diya ai dhora pora shuru, ek soo kuti chariya gelao ghabriyo na Guru (The arrests began over recovery of ₹20 crores but there is nothing for them to worry about even if it breaches ₹100 crores).
Ai Arpita ra onek aache Mantri aache joto, lojja, ghinna seekh e tole lootche obiroto (There are as many ‘Arpitas’ as there are Ministers. They have left their shame and disgust on a high pedestal and continued with their loot).
Rasta jore bekar boshe karon tara joggo, Maa Mati aar manush Doler kacha sobhai bhoggo (People are unemployed because they deserve to have jobs. For a party with slogan of ‘Maa, Mati and Manush’, everyone is deserving of exploitation).
Taka dilai chakri hobe, taka dilai kaaj, taka kheya dol ta bache, sobai ferak baaj (Only if you pay up, you can have your job or get your work done. The party survives on cut money and is a den of thieves).
Howrah bridge er nut-boltu khule deba becha, aar koto ta din rakhle aider rajyo deba checha (One day, they will sell even the nuts and bolts of Howrah bridge. If they stay any longer, they will scrub the State of its remaining resources).
Arpita Mukherjee with Partha Chatterjee and Mamata Banerjee at 2019 Durga Puja event
Fesa gela ader didi r sei purono buli, korun mukhe mitha kothai poran chukhe dhuli (Whenever Mamata Didi is in trouble, she sways the public with her gleaming eyes, sweet voice and brazen lies).
Manush matro bhul toh kore, din kore din khoma, sob seat e te prathri ami, suncho kaka mama (She then appeals to her uncles to forgive her, as it is human to err).
Didi Onek holo mitha bachan, public noi goru, nil sada rong jaba dhule, countdown shuru (Enough of your lies! People are not herds of cows…The countdown has begun)
Sob chor era parbe dhora, ei kudi diya Partho, duar e maat palte ebar, duar juda gorto (All thieves will be caught. It has started with Partho’s ₹20 crores. There is now a pothole besides your doorsteps).
The political journey of Rudranil Ghosh
Anubrata Mandal, who was once a star campaigner for TMC, spoke out against the party in public in 2019 over the collection of ‘cut money’ by its functionaries. He had declined to speak against dubious allegations of BJP’s black money, as touted by the high command of the TMC, in July of that year.
“She (Mamata Banerjee) brought to the fore the word ‘cut-money’ following which people (read TMC functionaries and public representatives) are returning some amount. It is creating a perception that the party runs on cut money. I also didn’t like countering the cut-money issue with black money,” Mandal had remarked.
Rudranil Ghosh was once a student leader and was affiliated with the Left parties before defecting to the TMC. He joined the BJP in January 2021 and contested the Vidhan Sabha polls from the Bhabanipur constituency but with no success.
Despite this, Rudranil Ghosh is making a mark for himself in Bengal for being outspoken against the incumbent government in West Bengal. His videos are gaining traction and are being widely shared on Facebook and Whatsapp.
At a time, when Mamata Banerjee wants journalists and the film industry to crawl, the actor with a spine is standing up to the regime, one poem at a time.
No one is unaware of the subtly propagated anti-Hindu sentiment and Hinduphobia in Bollywood movies through the one-sided, flawed, and unreal stories conveyed in the movies. The same tactic has been used once again in the film Shamshera, in which the antagonist has been portrayed by the filmmakers as a brutal barbarian who is also a pious Hindu.
Despite frequent big-budget flops and boycotts, Bollywood’s focus on anti-Hindu stories has not changed. Bollywood has once again brought a villain who is portrayed as a devout Hindu and a ruthless barbarian. Sanjay Dutt appears as a villain in Ranbir Kapoor’s historical drama ‘Shamshera.’ He is presented as a traitor to India who also happens to be a police officer. He is shown in the film as a devout Hindu with a Shikha and a Tripund Teeka. His character is named Shudh Singh, a brutal authoritarian general who has imprisoned and enslaved a warrior tribe.
Shamshera is a film produced by Yash Raj Films (YRF). Recently, the same company delivered two high-profile flops in Jayeshbhai Jordaar and Samrat Prithviraj. Shamshera has Ranbir Kapoor as the main protagonist, who plays a dacoit father and subsequently his son after his death. In both personas, he is a bandit. To apprehend him, the British bring Sanjay Dutt as Shudh Singh, a villain with a devout Hindu look.
With less than Rs 21 crore in two days’ worth of box office revenue, Shamshera, a movie with a huge budget of Rs 150 crore, has decisively been rejected by fans, putting YRF under a lot of strain. The film’s script has also been panned by reviewers for its weak content with many saying the storyline has no point. Audience feedback is that Ranbir Kapoor does not match the image of a dacoit, and neither does his voice. The screenplay was not well praised by critics too.
The disguised Hinduphobia
However, though the film has been obviously rejected by a wide audience, we need to understand the Hinduphobia that is being promoted through such movies where the villain is selectively shown as a devoted Hindu who is so pious and barbaric at the same time. There are countless movies where villains are the ones who have a stretched Red of Saffron Teeka on their forehead or discuss a crime while performing a sacred Hindu ritual like Aarti.
It is unnecessary to dwell on Bollywood’s fixation with Hinduphobia and depiction of Hindus as evil creatures. It is not a new phenomenon either, as one can remember films even from the 70s, like Suhaag, which depicts a Hindu priest as a murderer and a Hindu temple as the scene of the crime, creating negative preconceptions about Hindus.
Urduwood created a negative stereotype of Hindu symbols through scenes after scenes like this
Site of murder could have been any, but chosen as Temple. Day could be any but chosen as Navratri. Killer shown as dressed as Sadhu
— Gems of Bollywood (@GemsOfBollywood) July 18, 2022
In the movie Suhaagan, Shakti Kapoor was named Krishna and given a flute with the role of groping women on the streets. The name of Lord Krishna was used in such a demeaning movie with such a demeaning character. The dialogues of the movie were written by Kader Khan, who is well known for writing dialogues demeaning to the Hindu faith.
Give a flute and name of ‘Krishna’ to Shakti Kapoor. Make him grope women on streets
– Dialogues by Kader Khan for film Suhaagan
How Urduwood has presented Bhagwan Krishna. How many know that this kind of street molestation was actually a common practice in Arab named Ta’arrud? https://t.co/ZxhWep9ifX
— Gems of Bollywood (@GemsOfBollywood) July 7, 2022
These are just a couple of examples, if one goes through all such instances where Hinduism and Hindus have been demeaned and mocked, even a PhD thesis won’t suffice to cover them all.
Deliberate factual distortion
The entertainment industry has long been fabricating a narrative in order to make it an accepted truth. Most of us are familiar with the 1990s television series Chandrakanta which was based on Devaki Nandan Khatri’s eponymous novel and had become quite famous among the general public. However, only a few individuals know that the serial did not accurately portray the novel.
There was no positive Muslim character in the original work. Instead, it included a few Muslim characters that were either wicked or amusing. As a result, the fact that there was no positive Muslim character troubled the serial’s creators. So they made one up by altering the novel’s plot and introducing an extra character in the television adaptation.
The narrative introduced a Muslim character named Janbaaz, performed by actor Mukesh Khanna. The character played a pivotal role in helping the Hindu hero get his love interest. This is how for the sake of moderation, Hindus are shown in films as bad and deceitful, while Muslims and others are portrayed as ‘Imaandar.’
In 2021, the vilification of Hindus in Indian cinema continued with the release of the film Sherni on the OTT network Amazon Prime. The Vidya Balan-starrer movie was based on tigress Avni who had reportedly turned man-eater and was recorded to have mauled 14 people to death.
In the movie, the character who kills the tigress is neatly presented as Kalawa-wearing Ranjan Rajhans alias Pintu Bhaiya. However, the tigress was actually killed by a hunter named Asghar Ali Khan. Additionally, Vidya Balan plays IFS officer KM Abharna in the film, but she is given a Christian name. Abharna is the one who caught the hunter.
Furthermore, with the exception of one character named Hassan Noorani, the majority of the senior forest officers, who happen to be Hindus, are shown to be corrupt and unethical. The film spent much too much time depicting Hindu cops as inept and uninterested in their jobs, despite the fact that there was no clear cause or rationale for hating on Hindus. The film even included a scene in which the perpetrator, who was turned into a Hindu figure, was shown conducting Bhajans and Puja at a government office, in order to make fun of Hindu customs for no apparent reason.
Almost all storylines in Bollywood films attempt to establish a premise that Hindus are intrinsically evil while all others, such as Muslims and Christians, have pristine intentions. The same thing has been done again with Shamshera, in which Sanjay Dutt is portrayed as a pious Hindu who abuses people every now and then and is a traitor to the people. The specific makeup of Shikha and Tripund Teeka should not be forgotten since it perpetuates Bollywood’s bizarre intention that a practising Hindu who observes rituals and prayers is a nasty, psychopathic, irrational criminal.
On Monday, July 25, a class 12 student was found dead inside the hostel of Sacred Heart Girls Higher Secondary School, a government-aided missionary institution in Kilachery, Tiruvallur district, 50 km from Chennai. The police suspect it to be a case of suicide.
Tamil Nadu | A class 12 student found dead inside the hostel of a private school in Kilacheri, Tiruvallur district, today. Police personnel deployed at the school premises after the incident.
Parents and relatives of the victim hold a protest demonstration in Thekkalur. pic.twitter.com/g0W8HDlQBd
Sacred Heart Girls Higher Secondary school in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvullur district is a government-aided school managed by the Madras Mylapore Archdiocese, the same that had stood in support of the protest organised by the Catholic church and Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council in 2018, against the action being taken against various Christian hospices including the infamous St. Joseph’s Hospice which has been accused of harvesting the bones and organs of the elderly.
Details of the school found on www.indiastudychannel.com
Notably, M Lavanya, who had killed herself in January this year, after she was tortured by her school authorities for refusing to convert to Christianity, was a student of standard 12th in Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Thirukattupali in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu.
The deceased, identified as 17-year-old P Sarala, a native of Thekkalur village near Arakkonam district in Tamil Nadu was found hanging in the hostel room of Sacred Hearts Girls Higher Secondary School.
The police have sent the girl’s body to a government hospital in Tiruvallur for postmortem examination. Further investigations are underway.
According to preliminary investigations, the deceased had spoken to her parents and a relative over the phone on Sunday night. She was depressed and getting ready to leave the dorm for school on Monday morning when she ended her life, said the police, adding that no suicide note has been recovered yet.
On receiving the information about the alleged suicide, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) M Sathya Priya and Tiruvallur District SP P Cephas Kalyan from Mappedu rushed to the school and conducted a preliminary probe into the alleged suicide.
A senior police officer said, “It is not clear why she took the extreme decision. The enquiry is on with her classmates and friends and wardens of the hostel.” Her body was recovered in the presence of revenue authorities and sent to the Government General Hospital, Thiruvallur for post-mortem. The case is likely to be transferred to CB-CID for further investigation.
The death of the 17-year-old student has triggered tensions in the area. On Monday, the kins of the deceased along with other villagers blocked a road in Thekkalur, leading to the school. The protest compelled the police to engage additional personnel for security in and around the school and in the village.
M Lavanya had ended her life after Sacred Hearts Girls Higher Secondary School in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu allegedly pressurised her to convert to Christianity
As mentioned above, M Lavanya, was a student of standard 12th in Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Thirukattupali in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. She had killed herself after she was allegedly tortured by her school authorities for refusing to convert to Christianity. Reportedly, the school had said that she must convert to Christianity if she wishes to continue her studies in the school.
Lavanya had been living at the St. Michael’s Girls Hostel near her school for the past five years, and the govt-aided Christian missionary school had been pressuring her to convert to Christianity, as per the girl’s dying declaration. However, Lavanya was adamant about not leaving her religion and refused to get converted. Angered by Lavanya’s resistance, the school administration cancelled her leave application for Pongal Celebrations. Lavanya who was supposed to visit home during her holidays was forced to do chores like cleaning toilets of the school, cooking and washing dishes. It is reported that dejected Lavanya consumed pesticides used in the school garden to end her life.
Principal and 4 others sent to jail, police van and school buses gutted in fire as people outrage over the death of TN student
This latest incident, however, has come on the heels of the tragic death of another Class 12 girl in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi on July 12.
The class 12 student had reportedly died of suicide on the premises of the Kaniyamoor Sakthi matriculation school. A suicide note recovered alleged that two teachers of the school had harassed and tortured her, compelling her to commit suicide.
The family had also alleged that the management had something to do with her suicide. Hordes of protestors had also taken to the streets alleging foul play in the investigation into the case.
The case had been transferred to Crime Branch-CID, a special wing in a CID headed by the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and assisted by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
On July 19, Kaniyamoor Sakthi matriculation school secretary Shanthi, principal Shiva Sankaran, school correspondent Ravikumar, and two teachers were arrested in connection with the death of a 17-year-old school girl in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu. The five arrested school employees have been sent on a 15-day remand.
On July 23, a detailed account of a monkeypox patient was published by The Guardian, who happened to be Division Director at George Soros headed Open Society Foundation. In the report by The Guardian, Sebastian Kohn revealed he not only contracted monkeypox but also Gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease (STD), after having sex with multiple men during pride weekend.
One of the directors for George Soros’ Open Society Foundations who specializes in public health, Sebastian Köhn, shares in the Guardian how he had sex with multiple men in a weekend for NYC Pride & contracted both #monkeypox & gonorrhea. He blames the system for failing him. pic.twitter.com/De1KQBDRUl
Kohn said that when the pride festival kicked off in New York on June 24, he was aware that monkeypox was a matter of concern, especially for gay men like him. However, pertaining to the low number of cases, he went on to have sex with multiple men, which was indeed in clear violation of the guidelines issued by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC).
After a week, he started to feel tired and developed a rash along with other symptoms of monkeypox. Kohn said, “I’m a 39-year-old man from Sweden, living in Brooklyn and working in philanthropy. For the past decade, my work has primarily focused on sexual and reproductive health and rights, so I followed the outbreak from the very beginning.” Even then, he decided to go ahead and enjoy having sex with unknown men over the pride weekend.
After getting tested at the healthcare centre, Kohn found he contracted not only monkeypox but also another STD, Gonorrhea. Kohn went on to explain how the disease progressed, and he was unable to get the treatment he desired or required. Interestingly, when he was far ahead on the path of recovery, he received a call from a healthcare professional who told him he might have monkeypox. When informed that he had already got tested and was being treated for the same, the person on the call did not bother to ask about the people whom he came in contact with after contracting the disease.
What is monkeypox?
Monkeypox is a rare disease that is caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. It belongs to the same family of Orthopoxvirus viruses that also includes smallpox and cowpox viruses. In 1958, two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Monkeypox virus was first discovered among these monkeys and thus derived its name from the same. Experts have said that gay men or men who have sex with other men are more prone to the disease.
The primary symptom of monkeypox is the virus that causes visible bumpy rash or pox all over the body. Apart from the pox, monkeypox can result in fever, and severe body aches. Other symptoms include fever, headache, muscle rashes, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion.
Rashes in the form of pox or blisters develop all over the body distinctively that look like chickenpox or syphilis. The rash often begins on the face and then spreads to other parts of the body, including the genitals. The rash develops all over the body and goes through different stages. It finally develops into a sab and eventually falls off. Those infected with the virus show symptoms within five days, and the infection generally lasts for 21 days.
The Monkeyvirus has two major strains, namely the fatal Congo strain with up to 10% mortality and the West African strain, which has a fatality rate of 1% in the total cases. The cases detected in the UK are of the West African strain. Australia is currently investigating its first case. Case fatality rates are found to be higher among children. WHO says that in certain recent incidents, the case fatality rate has been found to be 3% to 6%.
Monkeypox cases in India
So far, India has reported four cases of monkeypox, out of which three had travel history to the countries where the outbreak has been reported. However, one case that was reported on July 24 in Delhi did not have any travel history to such countries, which shows he might have come in contact with someone who had the disease.
CDC has asked to limit the number of sex partners
In its guidelines, CDC has clearly mentioned that people should limit their sex partners. Also, it has asked people to avoid having physical sex with those who have or might have the disease. It has also asked to avoid going to places with large crowds, avoid getting close to people who have developed an unexplained rash and avoid sharing items such as towels, sex toys and toothbrushes etc. Though the guidelines revolve a lot around people getting intimate, it has to be noted that the disease does not spread only by sexual contact. It can spread through direct contact with the rash, body fluids, touching objects that came in contact with infected patients and more.
In Alwar, Rajasthan, on the night of Thursday, July 21, 4-5 Muslim youths allegedly harassed and assaulted one Gurbaksh Singh, a former granthi of a Gurudwara. The miscreants reportedly accosted the victim, beat him up, threw red chili powder in his eyes, and cut his hair, something Sikhism prohibits its followers from doing. According to a report by Swarajya, the root cause of the attack is an interfaith love affair between a Sikh man and a Muslim woman.
Alwar: “4 people stopped a man in bike, they threw red chilli powder in his eyes n wanted to cut his head. But when they found out that biker is a sikh n works in Gurudwara, They called a man named Jumma n they cut his hair n coz it is an equal punishment” pic.twitter.com/XSovcQcUXe
As per the Swarajya report, Gurbaksh Singh in his statement recorded in the first information report (FIR), alleged that around 7.30 pm on Thursday, he was on his way from his home in Milakpur to Alavada to buy medicines when the miscreants allegedly waylaid him. A youth asked him to stop his bike and park it on one side of the road, saying that a Sikh man was lying injured. As Singh halted his bike, the youth was joined by his four aides, who dragged Gurbaksh Singh, threw red chili powder in his eyes, and covered his eyes with a cloth. Two of them were carrying knives.
The miscreants, then, pinned him down and put a knife on his neck. They started discussing a plan to behead Singh but the latter started pleading with them, urging the miscreants to tell him his offence. To this, the miscreants said that men like him were eloping with Muslim girls.
Gurbaksh Singh told the miscreants that they were mistaken and that he was not a native of Alwar but of Sikri, and he was a granthi (priest) at a gurdwara.
Upon learning that the victim was a Sikh priest, the miscreants decided against killing him and called one man named ”Jumma”, who asked them to instead cut off his keshas (unshorn hair). Singh urged them to cut his throat instead of cutting his hair since it is strictly prohibited under Sikhism, but the miscreants still continued. The miscreants then fled leaving Gurbaksh Singh in an injured state.
Around 15 minutes later, when Gurbakh Singh regained consciousness and got a hold of himself, the men had left.
Gurbaksh Singh’s statement in the FIR (Source: Swarajya)
Based on Singh’s complaint, the Ramgarh police filed an FIR (number 417/2022) on July 21 and booked “Jumma” and four unidentified men under IPC sections 323 (causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 307 (attempt to murder), 153A (promoting enmity), and 295A (deliberately hurting religious sentiments).
According to the Swarajya report, Jumma Khan is the Sarpanch of the Alawada village, which is predominantly a Muslim-dominated village.
Swarajya spoke to a resident of Alwada village, who, on conditions of anonymity, told the news portal over the phone that a Sikh man and a Muslim woman belonging to their village had eloped in April to get married. He added that both the individuals are adults and their affair was also consensual.
“The Meos saw it as an affront to their community. They staged protests. Eventually, Jumma intervened and made the police recover the woman. From the police station, Jumma brought the woman back home despite her wish to go with the Sikh man,” the villager told Swarajya.
“Since then, that Sikh family has been living under threat. They have not been going out much,” he added.
The villager confirmed that Jumma Khan was the sarpanch of Alwada village in Alwar, which is predominately occupied by Muslims. In contrast to the “400 votes” of Sikhs, he said that Muslims make up “1500 votes” in Alawada. Notably, Muslims are predominantly Meo converts in Alwar. The majority of Sikhs are Rai Sikhs, who belong to the backward castes.
According to the report, Alwar Superintendent of Police Tejaswani Gautam was quoted by PTI as saying that it appears that Singh was singled out because of long-standing animosity between Sikhs and Meo Muslims in the village of Alawada over alleged love affairs.
Meanwhile, on July 22, the enraged villagers, including Hindus, gheraoed the police station and demanded an expeditious investigation into the incident. They demanded that the miscreants who had fled the scene of the crime after the incident, be apprehended quickly and dealt with strictly.
Alwar, close to Mewat- Haryana’s ‘Mini Pakistan’, is the hotbed of organised crimes
Alwar in Rajasthan borders the state of Haryana and is part of what is called the Mewat region. Over the years, Alwar has emerged as a hotspot for rapes and crimes against women. Mewat, characterized as Haryana’s Mini Pakistan, has been known to be a hotbed of organised crime, cattle smuggling, and illegal Rohingyas.
In an affidavit, the then-director general of police for Haryana, Manoj Yadava, stated in 2019 that the police officers in Mewat worked in a hostile environment and were in danger of their lives and safety.
In response, the court noted that Mewat’s cow slaughter and smuggling offences were “being committed by hardcore smugglers fully trained and that too in a well-planned manner on large scale in an organised way.”
In the year 2020, an investigation report by a 4-member team headed by former Justice Pawan Kumar asserted that Mewat is gradually turning into a graveyard for Hindus, especially Dalits. The report said that the rapes of girls, the kidnapping of women, thrashing and killing of Dalit residents with impunity, and forced religious conversions have become par for the course.
The investigation team led by former justice Pawan Kumar made scathing observations on the plight of Dalits at the hands of Muslims in Mewat. Kumar observed that the plight of Hindus, especially Dalits left in Mewat might be worse than the minorities living in Pakistan.
OpIndia had reported about the horrific atrocities being inflicted on the Hindus of Mewat as well after a press release related to Justice Pawan Kumar’s 4-member team’s investigation report came to light. OpIndia got in touch with a few journalists who visited Mewat and spoke to many of the victims. These reporters briefed us about quite a fewshocking incidents, which they were given an account of, and with their due permission, OpIndia sharedthose details.
Mewat has a history of atrocities being committed against Hindus
Over the years, many Hindu organisations have raised their voices against the rampant atrocities committed against Hindus, especially Dalits in Mewat. Not only the RSS and VHP activists, but other institutions have also raised their concerns against the rising number of criminal incidents happening in Mewat.
A 2013 report of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti states that these incidents happening in Mewat are not a matter of today. Rather, the attitude of the Muslim majority of people has been continuing for a long time due to which many activists were forced to call it a “mini-Pakistan”. The report states that the way Hindus in Pakistan are persecuted and stripped of their basic rights, similarly, the Dalits and Hindus in Mewat are subjugated by the Muslim majority, and atrocities are committed against them.
The report of the committee mentioned that the people of Tablighi Jamaat in Mewat motivated members of the local Muslim community to wage love jihad, jihad, and forced conversion. Also, this report mentioned an incident where Veer Singh, while making a statement on his father-in-law’s conversion to Islam, states that his father-in-law was converted to Islam a while ago and was later sent out for 4 months. However, when he returned, he once again started practicing Hinduism, due to which he received death threats.
The condition became so dire that he had to go into hiding to escape retribution from fanatic Muslims. His wife and children were also harassed. He was accused of tearing the Quran, which later proved to be false. Apart from this, when his daughter was about to get married, some Muslims reached the wedding venue and started shouting that the girl cannot marry by Hindu customs because her father had converted to Islam and that she would have a “nikah” and that too only with a Muslim man. However, the girl’s mother later objected to this and eventually the marriage was completed under police protection.
The reports of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and former justice Pawan Kumar’s investigation team make it beyond clear that the spread of Muslim fundamentalism in Mewat has been deep-rooted and firmly ingrained. The former judge while in conversation with OpIndia said that out of the 500 villages in Mewat, only 103 continue to be Hindu, and there are only 4-5 families of Hindus left in 84 villages.
West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested by Enforcement Directorate on Saturday, called the state chief minister Mamata Banerjee four times, but his call went unanswered.
As a part of a process, when a person is arrested, he/she can inform one person who could be a family member or relative or friend. When the ED officials came to arrest him, Chatterjee told them that he wished to speak to the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee about his arrest. He made four calls—at 2.31 am, 2:33 am, 3:37 am, and 9:35 am, but none answered them.
Source: Republic TV
The West Bengal chief minister’s snub assumes significance, highlighting the party’s reluctance to stand behind Partha Chatterjee in the light of piles of cash recovered from his close aide. According to reports, while the party’s old guard wants Partha to continue in party positions and as a minister, the young guns want him removed.
ED nabs Partha Chatterjee
On July 23, officials of the Enforcement Directorate arrested Partha Chatterjee and later produced him before the Bankshall court. He was sent to judicial custody for a period of 2 days. Aripta Mukherjee also has been arrested after recovery of huge stash of cash from her flat.
The arrest came a day after the Enforcement Directorate began search operations at various premises linked to the recruitment scam in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WB-SSC) and West Bengal Primary Education Board.
Prior to the arrest, Partha Chatterjee was questioned for around 26 hours in connection with the SSC scam case. The Enforcement Directorate also raided 13 locations belonging to the TMC Minister.
A day before his arrest, ED raided the house of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of Partha Chatterjee, in connection with the money laundering aspect of those allegedly involved in the SSC scam. It recovered a huge pile of cash, approximately 20 crore rupees, from Mukherjee’s place. The money is allegedly the profits of the SSC Scam, according to a statement from the central agency.
The recently married Bollywood actors Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal have approached the Santacruz police station to lodge a complaint after the couple has received death threats from an unknown person on social media. As per the complaint filed by actor Vicky Kaushal, the accused has been stalking his wife and threatening the couple on Instagram for several days. Based on the complaint a case has been registered at Santacruz Police Station and a probe has been initiated.
Maharashtra | Police register a case against an unidentified man and initiate an investigation for allegedly giving life threats to actors Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal through social media. Case registered at Santacruz Police Station: Mumbai Police
According to reports, based on actor Vicky Kaushal’s complaint, the Santacruz PS registered a case against an unidentified man under sections 506(2),354(D) of the IPC, and section 67 of the IT Act.
Vicky Kaushal who was recently in the Maldives with Katrina Kaif to celebrate her birthday alleged that one person has been posting threatening messages on Instagram targeting him. He stated that the accused had also been stalking his wife and threatening her.
Complaint filed against Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal during their wedding celebration
Notably, the actors tied a knot at Six Senses Fort Barwara, Sawai Madhopur on December 9, 2021. Though the wedding had been a grand affair, a police complaint had been filed against the couple and the hotel management.
In the complaint with the District Legal Services Authority Sawai Madhopur, a Rajasthan-based advocate Netrabind Singh Jadoun said that for the couple’s wedding, the hotel management had closed the road leading to the Chauth Mata temple from December 6 to 12. The road was closed as the hotel is located on the way to the temple, causing hardships for worshipers. In light of the public opinion, the advocate has requested that the route be made active.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan receives a death threat
Last month, Bollywood actor Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan also received threats in the form of a letter. The letter addressed to the actor and his father read, “Salim Khan, Salman Khan bahut jald aapka moosewala hoga KGBLB” (Salim Khan, Salman Khan, very soon y’all will end up like Moosewala).
After the letter was received, the Maharashtra police sprung into action. The Bandra police also registered an FIR against unknown people under IPC sections 506-II (Criminal intimidation), based on a complaint lodged by Salim Khan. Mumbai Police had traced the links of the threat to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
In the wake of the threat, Salman Khan has applied for a gun license for self-protection.
On the 23rd of July 2022, Congress plummeted itself to a new low where they decided to attack Smriti Irani’s 18-year-old daughter with false allegations. In a press conference broadcast by INC’s official handles, Pawan Khera (who is trying to prove his ‘Tapasya’ to his political masters – The Gandhi family) and Jairam Ramesh, who is well past his expiry date and looking for political oxygen by pleasing his masters (again, the Gandhi family), made sensational allegations against Smriti Irani’s daughter – allegations that seem to have no basis in reality.
As the press conference commenced, Pawan Khera claimed that it is not Congress’ political style to attack the family members of political opponents, however, since the allegations of “corruption” are against a Union Minister, Congress has decided to discover new lows.
Calling the bar a “sanskari bar”, Congress alleged that Smriti Irani’s 18-year-old daughter attempted to get a fake bar license. They alleged that the license was taken in June 2022, in the name of a man who had died in May 2021, 13 months prior to the license being taken. They further alleged that the restaurant had received two licenses, whereas a restaurant is allowed to get only one bar license according to Goa laws.
While making these false allegations (as would be clear as the article proceeds), Pawan Khera made insinuations about the upbringing of Zoish Irani, claiming that the name of the restaurant was “Silly Souls” and not “Tulsi Sanskari Bar”. “Your supporters play Lulu mall Lulu Mall and fight over Hanuman Chalisa and Namaz while your kids study abroad and under your patronage, indulge in such illegal activity”, Khera said.
While demanding answers from Smriti Irani, however, Pawan Khera slipped up and ended up revealing the real reason behind attacking Smriti Irani’s daughter. He said that the same Smriti Irani who was attacking Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, asking them questions, should now answer why “Bar wale” has a problem with “Akhbaar wale”, claiming that the restaurant in question was surrounded by bouncers enduring that no media person could enter the premises. Before posing questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the same issue, Khera, in his inimitable style (that appeared sleazy at best), also said that Smriti Irani is the “most favourite minister” of PM Modi.
Their ultimate demand in the press conference was that PM Modi remove his “favourite minister” from her position because she was an “illegal bar wali”.
During the press conference, Pawan Khera waved certain papers in the air while making scurrilous allegations against Irani’s daughter, claiming that the allegations he was levelling were based on an RTI response and a show cause notice that had been served to Zoish Irani, however, a perusal of the documents summarily expose the lies being peddled by Congress.
Who is Aires Rodrigues and how did this fiasco against Zoish Irani, Smriti Irani’s daughter start
The fiasco started with Goa “activist”, Aires Rodrigues, filing an RTI application in June 2022 asking for information on the Excise License issued to Silly Souls Goa Cafe and Bar. After receiving the pertinent information, Rodrigues took to his website to issue a statement about the restaurant, claiming that an excise license was falsely issued to the restaurant and it indicates widespread corruption by the Irani family. After the complaint was filed by him, the excise department of Goa issued a show cause notice to the restaurant.
Rodrigues first issued a statement where he insinuated that fake documents were provided to procure a liquor license by the restaurant. After the Congress press conference, 2 more notes were issued by him.
In a 24th July note, claiming that a license was issued to the restaurant in the name of a person who had passed away, Rodrigues wrote, “Those in power should not dare hoodwink the authorities as the long arm of the Law catches up, slowly but surely. There must also be a probe into the legality of all properties including benami ones bought in Goa by Smriti Irani and other central leaders. It’s time to say that enough is enough”. In this statement, while he made allegations against the Irani family, the name of the daughter was not mentioned anywhere and no proof of these “benami properties” were provided.
Statement by Aires Rodrigues on his website
On the 25th of July, he issued another statement where he played victim claiming to be hounded first by Congress and now by the BJP for his “exposes”, however, even in this note, Zoish’s name was not mentioned anywhere.
On his Twitter account, however, Rodriguez played along with Congress. On the 24th, after the press conference by Congress, he posted a picture of Smriti Irani’s 18-year-old daughter insinuating that the restaurant was “run” by Zoish Irani.
Goa authorities will decide on legality of Silly Souls Café and Bar run by Union Minister Smriti Irani’s family, but one has to fairly concede that it’s a very Secular place. A perfect hideaway for savoring pork & Beef dishes. Magnanimous feat to achieve for a BJP leader. Jai ho pic.twitter.com/WLi4WPN2No
It is pertinent to note that Aires Rodrigues is often referred to as an “activist” who indulges in rampant blackmail in Goa and has a colourful history that hardly covers him in glory. In 2017, Aires Rodrigues was accused in a case of sexual harassment and his pre-arrest bail was denied by the court of law.
A woman had accused Rodrigues of `sexually harassing’ her and outraging her modesty by posting her picture on Facebook and linking her to an alleged sex scandal involving state minister Vinod Paliencar. Paliencar had denied involvement in the scandal.
The woman lodged a case with Anjuna police on November 27, which was later transferred to the Crime Branch. Reportedly, the woman had said that after Rodrigues circulated her pictures on WhatsApp, she was unable to leave her house and was getting threats as well.
This is not all. Rodrigues has also been charge sheeted in a case of dual citizenship in the past where he was charge sheeted for holding citizenship of Lisbon, Portugal.
He had also tried to play the victim by alleging that he was attacked by 6 persons and had alleged a “threat to life”, however, all individuals were acquitted by the court.
Even with this colourful past, Rodrigues seems to have played safe and not named Zoish Irani in his press notes. In fact, other than his tweet that came after the Congress press conference, there is no mention of Irani’s daughter. If Zoish Irani had indulged in any illegality, it is pertinent to ask why Aires Rodrigues did not mention Zoish before the scurrilous allegations by the Congress party. In fact, the allegation that he makes against the Iranis of holding “benami property” in Goa also has no evidence to back it up except a conversation that he relays, where he claims that Zubin Irani had once asked him about properties he could buy in Goa. Logic dictates that someone who is looking to purchase benami properties, like a certain Congress son-in-law, for example, would not ask an RTI activist about properties that he can legitimately buy, however, these logical fallacies do not stop Aires Rodrigues from tarnishing the reputation of the Irani family.
More pertinently, however, it is amply clear that the name of Zoish Irani, the 18-year-old daughter of Smriti Irani, was dragged in by the Congress because they believe that the easiest way to exact revenge from Irani, who has been exposing the corruption by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, is to call her teenage daughter a “bar wali”.
Facts of the case and how Congress lied to tarnish Zoish and Smriti Irani
In the allegations levelled by Aires Rodrigues, a man accused of sexual harassment, the main contention was that a liquor license was illegal acquired by the Silly Could Cafe, which is run by the Iranis (According to Congress, it is run and owned by Zoish Irani – the 18-year-old daughter of Smriti Irani).
Before we talk about the involvement of Zoish or the Iranis in general, it is pertinent to note that the RTI response that was received by Aires Rodrigues made no mention of Zoish Irani at all. OpIndia perused the documents that were waved by the Congress party and found no mention of any member of the Irani family in the RTI response that was received by Aires Rodrigues.
It is, therefore, safe to say that not just Aires Rodrigues, but even the Congress dragged the name of the Iranis without any proof, given that the Congress claimed their allegations were based on the RTI response.
The other document that was mentioned by the Congress and Aires Rodrigues, was the excise department show cause notice that was served on the restaurant. It is on the basis of this that they made allegations about the liquor license being obtained illegally by providing fake documents. They had also claimed that the license was illegally issued in the name of the person who had died 13 months ago in 2021.
Show cause notice issued to restaurant
The ONLY allegation in the complaint by Aires Rodrigues, the same being mentioned in the excise show cause notice, is that fabricated documents were produced to acquire a license in the name of Anthony Dgama, who had already died on 17th May 2021.
However, in the very next page of the excise notice, the reason for this has been amply explained and the owner of the restaurant has been asked to explain the reasons behind the alleged irregularity.
Show cause notice issued to restaurant
The license was earlier in the name of Mr Anthony Dgama who passed away in 2021. It was his legal heir, his son, who had requested for the license to be renewed in his name, promising to affect the transfer of the license name to his own within 6 months.
The allegation that false documents were produced or that the restaurant is an “illegal bar” is false, even by the facts mentioned in the show cause notice. Now whether technically it was in contravention of the law, would be established only after the hearing by the authorities, however, for Congress or even Aires Rodrigues to insinuate that the Iranis, specifically, Zoish Irani, is running an “illegal bar” is false and malicious.
As for the other allegations about the restaurant not having a licence to function, there is no proof that has been provided by Aires Rodrigues or the Congress party. The only documents that Congress has relied on make no mention of the Iranis and certainly no mention of Zoish Irani.
What is the involvement of the Iranis and specifically, Zoish Irani, in the restaurant in question
The earliest mention of Zoish Irani can be found in a hit job published by The Wire on the 21st of July 2022, 2 days before the Congress press conference. In the report, TheWire claims that the restaurant is run by Zoish Irani, based on a video segment with food critic Kunal Vijaykar. In the video, that the Congress is using now to lie about the Iranis, Zoish Irani, wearing a Chef’s jacket, said that though Goa was a huge tourist hub, it lagged in high-end dining of international calibre and she hoped Silly Souls would become the “food destination” of Goa.
Article by The Wire
According to Zoish Irani’s lawyer, she was only interning at the Silly Souls Cafe and she had given the interview as an interning chef. “She has interned at 4 places before Silly Soul’s Cafe”, a source close to the family said.
Based on her internship, the Congress and TheWire have alleged that the cafe was owned and run by Zoish Irani.
The Wire in its report has repeated the allegations levelled by Aires Rodrigues without doing their own due diligence. What is worse is that they have gone a step further and dragged Irani’s 18-year-old daughter into the controversy based on a YouTube video, without trying to find out what her association with the cafe was, to begin with.
The same allegations were then repeated by the Congress party who made value judgements against a teenage girl because they wanted to exact revenge from Smriti Irani for exposing the Gandhis.
The truth of the matter is that Smriti Irani’s husband, Zubin Irani, who has been a businessman his entire adult life, co-founded the cafe along with Mr Dgama, who expired in 2021. The restaurant is owned by his legal heir, his son, after his death, and it is in his name that the liquor license is to be transferred.
It is pertinent to note that the cafe is a completely legitimate business interest that Zubin Irani holds, as he is a businessman by profession. Congress has managed to unearth nothing of consequence that puts the Iranis in the eye of the storm. In fact, there is no political influence or public fund that has been used in setting up the business and therefore, attacking a legitimate business interest of Zubin Irani, and dragging in their 18-year-old daughter with moral judgements, only shows that the Congress party is desperately trying to shift the focus from the corruption of the Gandhis and us using a teenage girl to settle scores.
The saga of Congress morphing a picture of Smriti and Zoish Irani, in which Zoish was only 16 years old
As the Congress party was attacking the teenager, a picture was widely circulated by its supporters that showed Zoish Irani hugging her mother, outside the board of the restaurant that had the word “bar” in it.
— Suby #ReleaseSanjivBhatt (@Subytweets) July 22, 2022
As it turns out, the image in question is from 2019 and was morphed by the Congress party to make its allegations appear believable.
If one checks the Instagram account of Smriti Irani, the 2019 image is a picture celebrating Smriti Irani’s birthday and is probably taken at their residence, not at the restaurant in Goa at all.
Smriti Irani’s Instagram post from 2019
This image was taken by the Congress party and morphed in front of the restaurant board. The image was then used widely to substantiate the lies that the Congress party was peddling about the teenager.
There appears to be a reason why Congress chose to attack Zoish Irani and not Smriti Irani or even Zubin Irani directly. The most effective way to shut a woman up seems to be either to attack her children or her character. Smriti Irani has been a vocal critic of the Gandhis and she defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, a family bastion that the Congress took for granted. It was her, because of whom, Rahul Gandhi had to contest from “safe seat” Wayanad, where he knew the Muslim majority would save him electorally. Braving the attacks that have been mounted against her and her character, Smriti Irani has emerged as a leader that the Congress fears – especially the Gandhis.
With the Enforcement Directorate’s investigation into Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, Smriti Irani has been at the forefront of asking pertinent questions to the Congress party that has presided over scams worth crores while they were in power. As Irani shows no signs of cowering because of her character being assassinated constantly, Congress seems to have decided that the most effective way to make her back off, would be to hunt down her teenage daughter. With the burden of these allegations, the life of a teenager would be made miserable and any mother would be forced to take a step back, so her children are not affected by the political mudslinging that Congress seems to be a master at. The moral insinuations made by Congress during the press conference bear testimony to the fact that Congress, shamelessly, tried to character assassinate a teenager because they wanted to intimidate her mother, who has proved to the nation that the Gandhis can be defeated in their own bastion.
